Project Baby Daddy
by sp0by
Summary: Perfect Spencer Hastings is assigned as stoner boy Toby Cavanaugh's partner for a health class project— to take care of a baby toy together. Despite their clashing personalities, an undeniable connection sparks, much to the dismay of Spencer's boyfriend Andrew.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Perfect brown hair falling past her shoulders. Perfect chocolate eyes. Perfect grades. Perfect boyfriend. Perfect life. Perfect everything. If there was one word someone could describe Spencer Hastings with, it would have to be the word 'perfect'. Quite the opposite was Toby Cavanaugh. He was sloppy, careless, reckless, and didn't come from the all-too-perfect background that Spencer did. That's why they never got along. Spencer passed judgment quickly. It was one of her infamous traits. One look at the way Toby Cavanaugh was living his life, and she made the choice to dislike him.

"Agh," she made a sound of disgust as the boy with light brown hair passed her lunch table in the cafeteria. "Why does stoner boy always walk by our table? He should just get a date already."

Her group of friends let out a laugh, none of them feeling any need to disagree with her. Everyone judges others— it is an inevitable thing that humans do, even when they're not trying. These girls happened to judge Toby quite a bit, although it was mainly just Spencer who did the judging of him. The bell let out a long ring, and the girls began to gather their things for their next classes.

"Ari, let's walk to health together," Spencer said with a perky smile, linking arms with her best friend. "Later Han, later Em."

Aria glanced back at Toby, who was tossing his uneaten sandwich in the trash. She could see the pack of cigarettes sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. She didn't quite understand why he would even think about doing something like that.

"What are we doing today?" Aria asked, looking back at Spencer. "We're not having a pop quiz, are we? I heard Mona Vanderwaal talking about it in the bathroom, and I was trying not to freak out—"

"Calm down, there's no pop quiz today," Spencer laughed. "Hanna's the only one that's actually friends with Mona. We were talking after history, and she said that Mona was just making that up to worry you."

"That bitch," Aria muttered, shaking her head. "What does she get out of this?"

Spencer shrugged her shoulders and responded by saying, "The enjoyment that Aria Montgomery is worrying."

"If there's no pop quiz today, then what are we actually doing?" Aria curiously asked.

"Um... I actually heard that Mrs. Schubert is assigning a new project today," she said. "With all my Russian history homework, the last thing I need is some giant project. But Mrs. S loves her projects."

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around the brunette's waist, almost sudden enough to give her a good scare. She jumped a little, but she turned around with a grin on her face, knowing exactly who it was. Before even locking eyes with the guy, she yanked him in for a mid-length kiss by the collar of his shirt, and then pushed him right off seconds later.

"Baby!" he exclaimed, putting his arm around her as they started walking towards class. "Sorry I couldn't sit with you all at lunch. The guys on the football team were practicing. At least I can walk you to class."

"Hello? I'm still here, guys," Aria joked.

"I recognize that, shorty-pants," he teased, pushing her playfully. "Did you hear? Mrs. Schubert's assigning a massive project. Just in damn time— I've got a big football game coming up, and my big math exam. I don't have time for this health project crap."

Spencer sighed and said, "Yeah, I heard, and I'm pretty bummed about it, too. At least it's a partner project, so maybe I can work with my favorite guy."

"Hmm, what about your favorite girl?" Aria joked again, nudging her.

"Oh! Aria, I forgot," she apologized, pecking her friend's cheek. "Andrew, you wouldn't mind if I worked with Aria, would you?"

He raised his eyebrows and told her, "Of course I wouldn't mind, but Mrs. Schubert might not feel the same way. You think she's gonna let us pick our own partners? Have you met her? She's the gal that's always saying we need to interact with all sorts of people besides our own cliques, because that's how the real world works. It's crappy, but that's the way she likes to play it. She's spiritual, if you have forgotten."

"Damn. Aribear, you would have been my first choice if we could pick," Spencer laughed.

"I totally picked that up from when you forgot about me, and almost chose to work with Mr. Football Boyfriend over there," Aria laughed back.

Once they entered the health classroom, they took their seats. On Mrs. Schubert's white board was a large message written in black marker that read, 'BABY 101'. And at that moment, smart Spencer Hastings put together exactly what this project was going to be like. It didn't sound very fun in her head...

"Welcome, welcome, class!" Mrs. Schubert happily exclaimed. "Today, we have another project, so take your seats. As you know, we've been going into depth about sexual reproduction. Sperm meets the egg, genetics, all that. But as a part of a special project, you'll experience family life. And perhaps you picked it up when you read my white board message, but you're going to be caring for a baby. Not a real baby. But you're going to see the difficulties of parenting. All your teenage pregnancies may finally be put to rest when you see this."

Spencer rolled her eyes, tapping her pencil against the desk.

"And of course, you know my philosophy," Mrs. Schubert began, "you must work with those you don't know. So, as usual, I will be assigning your partners. Yes, it is boy-girl. No, it is not because I'm homophobic."

The class may have laughed just a little at her joke, but Spencer still found herself distracted. She felt like dozing off for a moment. Maybe she would just read Mrs. Schubert's project instructions handout later, because she seriously didn't feel like listening that day.

"Aria Montgomery and Andrew Campbell."

The two of them were somewhat friends already, via Spencer, so they gave each other a fist bump, laughing together in unison. Mrs. Schubert somehow didn't realize that they already knew each other, so her philosophy wasn't quite accurately being portrayed. But nonetheless, class went on, and she continued announcing the project partners.

"Spencer Hastings and Toby Cavanaugh."

Then, maybe she paid a little more attention than usual. The brunette's head shot up when she heard her partner. She glanced back and saw the stoner boy sitting in the furthest desk from the front. He was playing with a cigarette lighter in his hand, but somehow nobody ever noticed except her. At least nobody cared to mention it, that was...

"Mrs. Schubert, I—"

"If this is about your partner assignment, let me just tell you now that there will be no switching for any reasons at all. If that is not what you were asking about, then please proceed," she said, offering a smile.

"Damn..." Spencer muttered.

"Alright, get with your partner, and please come get a baby doll," Mrs. Schubert explained. "This will be your child. Take good care of it. There's a baby monitor, of course, so I will be notified of any maltreatment. It'll be logged to my computer, and your grade will be reduced for the assignment. Got it? Good."

Spencer signed again, whispering to Aria, "This freaking sucks. I get stoner boy, and you get to work with my boyfriend? You wanna trade?"

"Hell no. But even if I wanted to trade with you, Mrs. Schubert would never let you do it. You're stuck with him. But you can do this, Spence. It's just a project," Aria reminded her in a whisper as well.

After class, Spencer found herself bolting out of the classroom, without even stopping to talk to Andrew or Aria. But Toby followed her anyways, even though he wasn't the kind of guy that cared too much about his grades. He grabbed her shoulder, turning her around.

"You can run from me all you want, but you're stuck with me on this project, Spencer."

She crossed her arms, staring at the baby doll in his hands.

"Look, I know you don't like me. It's no secret. I can tell," he informed her, rolling his eyes. "And frankly, I don't give a crap. All I want is to have something scheduled so we can work on this project."

"Yeah, I'll make a schedule right here for you," she said, smirking. "We stay out of each other's way as much as possible. That's the deal. You can take care of him some days, and I'll take care of him other days. For the report, I'll do it. Your work is probably horrible, so I'll take the wheel on that one."

"Funny, but that's not how I do things," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh, really? How do you do things, then? Go with the flow and then smoke a couple when it doesn't work out for you, stoner boy?"

"Cute, but listen— we're not about to fail this project because you're too stubborn and are taking your random-ass personal hate for me out. You truly are a bitch. Most people would be decent and adjust to work with someone they hate if they have to," he told her. "But I'll let your bitchiness slide because I'm a decent guy. We're not acting like a divorced couple sharing a baby."

"First of all, never say we're a couple again. And secondly, alright, we can negotiate on the scheduling terms, but there's no way in hell that you're smoking around our baby. Got it?" she said.

"I can live with that," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Why don't you come over to my place tom—"

"There's no way in hell that I'm coming to your creepy-ass house," she told him. "My place is much more pleasant. And there's a lesser chance of murder."

"Get over yourself and get your ass to my place," he said, scribbling down his address on a ripped up sheet of binder paper. "I can assure you that there will be no murdering of any sort. Does that make it better?"

"No, why would I trust you?" she said, even though she was trying not to laugh. Their banter felt a lot more playful than hurtful, which was the oddest feeling. She was trying to be mean, but somehow the discussion sounded like teasing.

/

"Hey, babe. You sprinted out of Mrs. Schuster's class faster than I could pick up my backpack," Andrew commented, pecking Spencer's cheek after school was over. "Luckily, Aria and I were able to walk together to my next class."

"Congratulations for you," she said, staring at the floor. "I left because I got the worst partner possible for the project, and there's nothing I can do about it. At least you get to work with Aria."

"Yeah, I was pretty lucky. I don't know how this happened," he said, half-smiling. "At least you're not working with some hot guy, so I don't have to be jealous."

"Well, I would still be jealous, Andrew. I mean, I might not like Toby Cavanaugh's personality, but I've heard he's got a great set of abs. Plus, he's pretty damn good looking," Spencer teased.

"You better be joking," Andrew laughed.

"Hmm, I don't know. We'll have to find out."

"Spencer damn Hastings!" Andrew exclaimed, grabbing her backpack and yanking her in for a long kiss. "Don't you dare say that to me ever again. You wanna know why? You're mine. Toby's never gonna get a girl like you."

"I love you, Andrew."

"Hey, I love you, too."

She smiled and gave him a hug before telling him, "I've been waiting to say that for so long."

"Well, you should have because I've felt it for so much longer," Andrew said, kissing her forehead. "I want to stay, but I've gotta meet up with Aria. We're going to start working on our project already. Maybe you should call Toby and get a start, too."

/

Spencer drove down the lengthy road. Suddenly, she realized that she had arrived at the Rear Window Brew, a coffee shop in Rosewood. Had Toby gave her the wrong address as a sick joke, or did he live in the alleyway with the garbage bins? She got out of her car, and started walking towards the coffee shop. Maybe he wanted to meet up for a coffee tomorrow or something, because this couldn't be a house.

"Angie!" Spencer exclaimed, tapping her friend that worked at the Brew. "Hi, you don't know how glad I am to see you here. This guy gave me his address as this place, and I just don't understand. It wasn't a trick, was it?"

"Well, you should know not to go the houses of random guys," Angie laughed.

"It's not like that, I swear. We got paired up for this stupid school project, and yeah," Spencer said, biting her lip. "Am I crazy? Here's the address he gave me."

She handed Angie the torn up binder paper with Toby's address written on it. She scanned the paper, nodding her head.

"Nope, this is definitely right," Angie said. "You must be thinking of Toby Cavanaugh, then. He rents the loft upstairs. It's not a part of the Brew. There's this loft space, and he lives there."

"Why would he do that?" Spencer asked. "What about his parents and family?"

"Um, I don't know exactly, but I think he moved out because his mom died, and something else happened with his dad. We don't really talk much, so I don't know, I'm sorry," Angie informed her.

"No, Angie, you've been more than enough help for me. Thank you so much," Spencer said, smiling.

Spencer walked up the stairs of the Brew. There really was a loft up there. She found the door leading into the loft. She took a moment to breathe nervously before she knocked on the door gently. She heard footsteps near the door. She was wondering if he really lived there, or he sent her to some hobo's apartment. But based off of what Angie said, it seemed like it was true— he lived alone in the Brew's loft.

"Uh, Spencer?" he said, confused, as he opened the door, wearing no shirt. The baby doll was in his hands, and he was cradling it. "I thought we were starting tomorrow. What are you doing here?"

"Please don't tell me you were masturbating with our baby," Spencer joked.

His cheeks turned a shade of pink, and he set the baby down on the table next to him.

"You're insane. What do you want?" he asked.

"I thought we could start early!" Spencer exclaimed. "My boyfriend and best friend are already starting, so I thought we could, too. I didn't want you to raise the baby all alone."

"Alright, what the hell? When I last saw you at school, you were trying to come up with schedules so that we barely have to interact," Toby said, furrowing his eyebrows.

She pushed some of her brown hair behind her ears before saying, "I know what I said— but you don't want to take care of the baby all alone, do you? Can I come in or what?"

"Sure, I guess," he said, stepping to the side.

"For the record, I still hate you," she informed him. "I'm being a nice person and helping out more with our project, even though I shouldn't have to."

"Oh, yeah. I feel lucky that Spencer Hastings is taking the time to talk to me," he said, rolling his eyes. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not going to be a guy that follows you around. People might think you're all special at school, by I don't. You're gonna have to realize that you don't have a crown on your head."

She stayed quiet.

"I'm not here to argue with you," she finally spoke up. "I really just wanted to help out with the project, I swear. I know I have been a bitch this entire time, and that's the way I am—"

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Spencer, you can't justify your actions by classifying yourself as a bitch. You're acting like a bitch. We can both conclude that. But I think you're a nice person, and you just don't want to show it."

"Shut up!" she cried, smacking his arm. "What do you think this is? Some kind of movie? We're not going to bond because you think I'm nice. Reality is, I judge people, I'm mean to people— that's the way it is and always has been."

He had a smug smile on his face as he said, "Okay, you believe what you want, and I'll believe what I want. But you came here, despite what you said about how much you hate me, so I know it's not all darkness in there."

"I did it for the sake of my grades!" Spencer argued. "I'm not going to let my health grade stop just because you're a freak."

"Ouch, I'll let that one go, too," he laughed.

"I do have a question for you, though," she said, biting her lip nervously. "I was talking to Angie downstairs, and she told me some things... why don't you live with your parents? This loft doesn't seem like home."

His face stiffened.

"This loft is my home, Spencer," he said, in a tone that almost seemed angry.

"What about your family?" she asked.

"My mom's dead," he responded, staring at the floor.

"And your dad?"

For a few seconds, he provided no answer. He finally began to open his mouth to respond to her, but at that moment, the baby doll began making a loud crying sound.

"I should probably get that," he said, walking over to the doll and picking it up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hey, baby, how was working on the project yesterday?" Spencer asked, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend, who was sitting at his computer desk in his bedroom. "You didn't have too much fun without me, did you?"

"Oh, hey!" he exclaimed, grinning and turning his spinning computer chair around. "It was actually really awesome working with her— how'd you even get up here?"

"Well, it's the weekend, and I wanted to see my boyfriend, so I asked your parents if I could come up. They were on their way out, so they let me in, and told me you're upstairs," she explained. "What did I miss?"

"Ah, nothing much. But you forgot to mention what a badass Aria is," he said, laughing quietly. "I'm really happy she's my project partner. I'm glad I didn't get stuck with some weirdo. Speaking of weirdos, how is Toby so far?"

"Surprisingly, not bad," she said, a small smile curling on her lips. "It's not completely torturous, to be honest. He's a decent guy. Maybe I was a little bit harsh when I said all of those things about him, and gave him disgusted looks all the time. If he dropped the stoner act, maybe he wouldn't be half bad."

"Okay, I've heard enough about my girlfriend bonding with him for a lifetime," Andrew said, chuckling again. "And did you say that my parents were on their way out when you were let in?"

"Yes, sir," she answered, settling herself down on his lap.

"So, we have the house all to ourselves for a couple of ours, am I correct?" he flirtatiously asked, leaning in to give her a long kiss on the lips.

"Oh, yes we do," she answered into his mouth, trying not to giggle as they kissed.

All of a sudden, both of their baby dolls began crying out in unison.

"Perfect timing, bitches," Andrew mumbled under his breath, and then reached over to grab the bottle. "It's feeding time, Spence. We've got some stupid babies to take care of."

/

A breezy gust of wind blew through his light brown hair, causing it to get just a little bit messier than it was before. He sat down on the edge of the land, dipping his bare feet into the water of the lake. He sighed, and then pulled out the pack of cigarettes from the back pocket of his jeans. Taking one out, he lit it up with the lighter from his other pocket. In a matter of seconds, he was huffing out breaths of smoky air.

/

"Now that the babies are finally done whining and they're asleep, can we get back to what we were doing?" Spencer asked, biting her lip, and tugging at the collar of his shirt.

"They'll probably wake up again, crying for more," he said, chuckling. "Do you want to go out tonight, Spence? Just us? It's been a while."

"What about the babies?" she asked.

"I'll call Aria, and you can call Toby," he suggested, rubbing her back. "I want to take you out again. I miss going on dates."

"Yeah, because I totally have Toby's number," she scoffed. "That's really sweet, Andrew, but just not tonight. I can't. I'm sorry. Maybe I should go give Toby the baby now, anyways."

"Seriously?" Andrew groaned, falling back on his bed. "I'm trying to be a good boyfriend to you, and you're shooting me down, Spence!"

"Babe, I want to go out tonight, but with the baby situation, I just don't think now is a good time. I can go give him the baby, and we can go out after that," she suggested. "You are an amazing boyfriend. Never forget that. You don't have to prove it to me with a nice date."

"Yeah, I know I'm a good boyfriend. I'm a good boyfriend because I try so hard to make you happy all the time," Andrew told her. "When are you going to try for me?"

"Is all of this coming up because I can't go out on a date with you tonight?" Spencer asked, shocked. "I've cancelled on you before, and you've never thrown this kind of a tant—"

"That's the thing, Spencer. You're always canceling on me and taking me for granted," he said, sighing. "Look, I'm sorry I had this outburst. You're not a bad girlfriend. I don't want to fight with you, 'cause I love you. But now is not the time for this, and I'm sorry."

"Um, it's alright," she mumbled, scratching her head. "I feel bad about this. I'm sorry that I take you for granted, if that's the way you feel. Let's go out tonight. On the way, I'll go drop the baby off at Toby's loft, and we can be together tonight, on a real date."

"No, forget about it," Andrew said, shaking his head. "I feel crappy after what just happened, and I'm not in the mood for a date right now. Maybe you should go home."

"You're asking me to leave?"

"I'm suggesting it," he told her, shrugging his shoulders. "Stay if you want, but it won't make any difference to me. I'm gonna call Aria and ask her to come over and help me take care of the baby. If you actually want to stay for this, then be my guest. Otherwise, go ahead and leave."

/

The next day, Spencer woke up and checked her phone, only to see that there were no calls or texts from Andrew. She sighed, getting out of bed. She brushed her teeth, quickly showered, got dressed, and then made her way downstairs. Her parents were sitting there. Her father was reading his newspaper and drinking coffee, and her mother was actually eating her breakfast while scrolling through her e-mails on her laptop.

"Morning," she greeted, opening the fridge.

She rolled her eyes when she didn't get a response from them. Either they didn't hear her at all because they were so engaged in whatever they were doing, or they were just totally ignoring her. It didn't matter which, because in the end, they didn't respond either way. She sighed, pouring herself a cup of coffee. After gulping it down, she started walking towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" her father suddenly asked, finally looking up from his newspaper.

"Out," she responded, folding her arms. "I didn't think it would concern you, since you didn't answer me at all when I greeted you five minutes ago."

"Spencer, that is not fair to us," her mother said, raising her eyebrows. "Work is very important to this family. How do you think the money is made? We have things to do."

"Right, and those things are more important than your daughter. I get it," she sarcastically said.

"Now is not the time for this discussion," her father said. "Where are you going? To see your boyfriend?"

"No, I'm going to go to my project partner's house to work on our project," Spencer angrily explained. "Is that going to be a problem? I'm doing it for my grades, so I'm sure it won't be."

/

"Um, hi, Spencer."

"Hi. I brought the baby," she said, handing it to him.

"Great. How was your time with him?" Toby asked, fake-smiling at her.

"Him? I didn't know he was a him," she said, laughing quietly.

"Well, he is," Toby said, returning a genuine smile this time. "Did everything go okay? Any problems?"

"No, I got him to sleep, I fed him. Everything was pretty good," she explained, shrugging her shoulders. "You want me to leave, don't you?"

"What? I didn't say anything," Toby said, furrowing his eyebrows. "The baby may be okay, but are you, Spencer?"

"Are you actually asking me if I'm okay right now?" she practically snapped.

"Well, I thought it was a nice thing to—" he began.

"No, dammit!" Spencer cried. "Why are you so nice to me, even after the way I treated you this whole time? I don't get it. I don't get you."

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm much more than a stoner boy, although that is one of my many traits," he laughed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, you look like you've had a tough day. I didn't want to make it any tougher on you."

"Maybe I'll tone down the bitch act just a little bit... for you," she said, biting her lip.

"Go ahead and come in. Our baby probably wants both his parents taking care of him. I know you made me promise to not say it anymore, but we shouldn't make our baby grow up with divorced parents," Toby laughed.

"Hey!" Spencer yelled, laughing as she stepped inside of his loft.

"I'm sorry," he said, smiling. "I can take him off of your hands, if you want. You can go home and get some rest."

"So, you do want me to leave?" Spencer asked.

"You're twisting my words," he said, picking up the baby doll. "That's not what I meant. I meant that you had to take care of him all of yesterday. Maybe it's my turn. Why are you so obsessed with the fact that I might be asking you to leave?"

"I don't know, it's just... boyfriend troubles," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "And you said it yourself! We can't let our little boy grow up like he has divorced parents. He deserves a name, too. I'm tired of saying 'he' and 'it' all the time."

"Scott Cavanaugh. How does that sound?" Toby asked with a grin on his face.

"We are not naming our fake son Scott!" Spencer cried. "We'll name him Cornelius Casper Cavanaugh. Elegant, don't you think? We can call him Cory for short."

"Never gonna happen," he said, shaking his head. "He is not going to become a Cornelius. Over my dead body! What about Luke?"

"Romeo."

"Nathan."

"Beauregard."

"Alex."

"Michaelangelo."

"Mike. Compromise? Even Michael."

"No! Abraham?"

"Oliver."

"Christian."

"Christian? I actually like that," Toby said with a huge grin on his face. "Christian Cavanaugh. I like it. I like it a lot. Chris."

Spencer smiled, looking at the baby doll and saying, "So, it's settled. Chris Cavanaugh. Christian Cavanaugh. I love it."

"Alright, well, I'll get our little Christian to bed," Toby said, the smile on his face remaining as he carried the baby doll to a different room.

Spencer made herself comfortable on his couch. She scanned around the room while she waited for him to return. One thing she really noticed was that every picture frame in his loft was empty. The frames were there, but the pictures weren't, and she couldn't quite get an understanding on why it was that way.

He returned shortly, and the same smile from before was still plastered on his face. Surprisingly, she smiled back. He sat down on the couch next to her.

"That was incredibly fast," Spencer commented, impressed. "You're a pretty good baby daddy, aren't you?"

He chuckled and said, "Well, I guess the baby was in a good mood today. Besides, he is a doll. We should probably remind ourselves of that. But since you're already here, do you want to eat something?"

"If you're offering, I'd be stupid to say no, so sure," she agreed, relaxing back on the couch. "And if you would let me ask— actually, I don't care, I'm asking anyways— how do you pay for the food you eat?"

"It's called getting a job, smart one," he said, getting up from the couch, and walking into the adjacent kitchen. "Eggs? Bacon?"

"Sounds delicious," she commented.

"Good. I'll make you some coffee, if you'd like," he offered.

"I already had coffee this morning, but hell yes. This girl can never get enough coffee," she informed him.

"That is great to know," he said, chuckling as he began to cook. "You know, I wasn't the best cook when I moved out, but independent life has forced me to adapt, and if you'll let me brag for a moment, I'm pretty damn good at it now."

"Oh, really? We'll let the food speak for itself," she teased.

"So, what happened with your boyfriend that made you all... jacked up today?" Toby asked, cracking an egg while he spoke.

"We got into a stupid argument— it was meaningless," she told him. "He wanted to go out that night, but I didn't think it was a good idea. I didn't think it was a big deal, but he turned it into this whole thing about how I take him for granted. And now that I think about it, maybe it is true. I'm always busy."

"Then make it up to him," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Show him that you appreciate him being in your life. Take him out. Maybe have sex with him."

"Are you serious!?" Spencer cried, throwing a pillow at him from the couch.

"It was half a joke, calm down," he said, chuckling again. "You probably don't need the guy you hate butting into your relationship, but if I may say so myself, I think your boyfriend is a flat-out dick."

"Hell no," she denied, shaking her head. "Andrew is such a great guy, you just don't get it. I love him a lot." She paused for a moment before saying, "For the record, I don't really hate you. I was being stupid—"

"It's alright," he said, nodding his head. "Why would you like the stoner kid?"

"No, I should have given you a chance before I pissed on your parade," she confessed, running a hand through her hair. "So far, you haven't been half bad, you know that? I do feel like I've been nothing but a bitch to you. You're the opposite of what I thought you would be. I've always had a thing for judging people, and I'm sorry. You really deserve much more than this apology. Although, if you cut the stoner act, it might have been a bit easier for me to open up to working with you."

"Are we bonding or something?" Toby asked, chuckling. "I know we haven't spent much time together, but from the moment we started working together, I knew you would turn around."

"Shut up," she said, laughing. "How is my breakfast turning out?"

"When it's done, you can try it and see," he told her, continuing to cook.

"I have a question. Why do you have all these empty photo frames?" Spencer asked curiously, brushing her fingertips against one of them.

"I'm waiting for the day that I have someone worth photographing," he responded, staring at the floor. "There's one with a photo. It's inside of my bedroom. The only person that's been worth a photo to me was my mother. I keep that one there. But since she died, I can't take anymore. Someday, someone else will be in those photos. Maybe it'll be photos of us together, but there will be photos of that person."

"Oh, so I'm not worth photographing?" Spencer asked jokingly, raising her eyebrows.

"Not yet," he chuckled. "Warm up to me a little more, and maybe you'll be that person. Who knows?"

"Excuse you, I can't be that person. I have a boyfriend," she laughed.

"That was such an irrelevant comment," he said, furrowing his eyebrows. "I never said that person had to be my girlfriend, significant other, or whatever... It could be a best friend. Or maybe just somebody that's really important to me."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, standing up.

"You're lucky breakfast is ready, so it can break this awkwardness that you just caused," he joked. "Who's ready for some bacon and eggs, freshly cooked by Chef Toby?"

"I'm ready to see if Chef Toby is all talk or not," she challenged, and walked over to the kitchen. "Hand me some of those eggs, sir!"

/

"The baby is asleep, fed, and ready to go," Andrew said, laughing as he sat back on his bed. "Thanks for coming over again. I really feel like we're in this together. You're mommy of the year, Aria."

She blushed bashfully, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Andrew... Spencer told me that you guys got into somewhat of a fight last night, and—" she began. "—I wanted to check up on you. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm the one that got all pissy on her," he informed her. "I feel bad about it. Trust me, I do. It sorta came out of nowhere. Well, it was somewhere. But that wasn't the right thing for me to do."

"What happened?" Aria asked.

"She's been canceling dates on me a lot, and I sorta broke," he explained. "She's always got something else better to do, and I feel like I'm her second choice. I want to be her first choice."

"She's stupid if she's taking you for granted," Aria told him. "That's just my opinion, though. You deserve a girl that will always make you her number one. Maybe you should talk to her about it, but this time, a little calmer. She doesn't like being yelled at."

"I know, I know. I'll talk to her tomorrow at school. I know we'll work things out. We always do. I love her, and she loves me," Andrew assured himself. "Aria, thank you again. You're really great."

"Oh... it was nothing..." Aria said modestly, nodding her head. "But Andrew, you're pretty great yourself, too."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Feeling groggy, Spencer slowly lifted her head up. Her eyes widened when she didn't recognize the setting around her, but she was more than happy that she didn't see someone's naked body next to her, like all the TV shows. She could recall last night clearly— she and Toby had somehow managed to talk all night, and then, she just fell asleep.

"Crap!" she cried, gathering her belongings from the side table. "Toby, where the hell are you?"

"Hey, calm down, I'm here," he said, entering from the living room. "I didn't want to wake you up. It's like 6 AM. If you somehow don't remember, you fell asleep. You said you'd take a quick nap, but you never woke up. I didn't want to wake you, so I let you sleep."

"Toby, it's a school day!" she yelled, quickly getting out of his bed. "God, I look like a mess, and I am a mess, and I didn't shower, and I don't have new clothes to wear, and my parents are going to crazy murder me for not coming home last night—"

He stepped over to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"You look great, you smell perfect, and I'll drive you home now, so you can get your clothes and get ready for school," he told her. "We've got two hours, you're fine, don't worry. I'll even give you a lift to school. So, are we bringing baby Christian with us?"

"We can't leave our little one home all alone," she laughed. "I should be freaking out right now, but I'm oddly calm about the whole situation."

"I'm pretty good at calming people down, I don't mean to brag or anything," he said, smirking. "What's the big deal, anyways? So what if you crashed at my place for a night?"

"I don't know, but considering that my boyfriend and I are already on thin ice, I don't think that he would like hearing that I slept over at my project partner's place," she explained, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm sure my parents have texted me a million times by now. Where's my phone?"

"I put it to charge for you," he answered, and then unplugged it. He quickly glanced at the screen before handing it to her. "I hate to break it to you, but you've got no new messages."

"Seriously?" Spencer said, shocked. "I can't believe my parents didn't notice, or didn't even care, that I didn't come home last night! And why didn't Andrew text me? He always checks in on me before we go to sleep! Is he actually that mad at me about what happened? God dammit, this sucks."

"Well, I'm sorry your circle didn't text you to get an update, but if it makes you feel any better, my family doesn't text me like that any day at all," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"No, all you're doing is making me feel like a whiny, complainy bitch," she said, laughing quietly.

"And that _isn't_ what you are?" he half-joked.

"Hey! You're the one who was all optimistic about what a great person I might be, underneath this bitchy mask," she reminded. "I thought you'd stick around and unmask me a little longer."

"Is that supposed to have some sort of deeper meaning?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Figure me out, Cavanaugh," she told him, shrugging her shoulders. "Where's your shower? I need to get ready. And I hope you either have a lot of gum and breath mints, or a spare toothbrush."

"Yeah, of course. I've got a cheap extra toothbrush from an airplane ride. It's unopened," he said. "It's not very good quality, so I hope your high Hastings standards don't mind."

"Very funny," she said, winking at him as she slipped into the bathroom to get ready for school.

/

"I'll be back in a minute, okay? I just need to change," she informed Toby as she exited his car.

"Alright, don't keep me waiting too long," he said with a laugh.

The brunette entered her large, classy home, only to find her parents in the exact same spot they were in yesterday, besides the fact that they had changed clothes. She was able to head up the stairs without them saying anything at all. She couldn't believe that they had nothing to say after she had been out all night, and hadn't come home until now. They clearly saw her now, and they didn't care, either?

In her bedroom, she quickly put on a white sweater and some leggings, and then grabbed a pair of boots and slipped them on as well. She made her way back downstairs, and once again, her parents said nothing at all. She wanted to get away with what happened, but she couldn't believe they did not care one bit! She groaned quietly, and then exited through the doors of the house.

"Well, that was fast. You didn't lie," he said, smiling. He opened the car door back up for her. "Get in."

She slipped back into the passenger side seat of the car, and then sighed loudly.

"Is this the part where I ask what's wrong?" he joked.

"It definitely should be!" she cried, folding her arms. "My stupid parents—"

"They got mad?" he guessed. "It's okay, Spencer. Parents get mad about stuff all the time."

"Oh, I wish," she said, shaking her head. "They _didn't_ care. They didn't even notice I hadn't come home last night! My god, they didn't say one word to me. They were so occupied with whatever the freaking hell they were doing with their tablets and their newspapers, and stupid other crap."

"Hey, calm down. You got away with it," he reminded.

"Am I glad that I get no punishment for this? Yeah, sure. But I'm not glad that my parents have no concern for me whatsoever," she angrily said. "I'm sorry for complaining—"

"No, don't apologize. You can complain to me all you want," he told her, putting his hand on her thigh, and smiling sweetly. "Look, we might not have started out on the right foot, but I think I'm a decent guy, and if you ever need somebody to talk to, I will listen. Especially if it's about parent problems. I have plenty of experience in that category, and I might actually be able to help you out."

"Damn you, Toby," she muttered. "Stop being so nice to me. I wanted to be right about how much I didn't like you before, but every time I try to hate you again, you make it so hard. You prove me wrong every time. Whatever you say is always too... perfect."

He chuckled, starting the car back up again, and then saying, "Well, I'm truly sorry for making you not hate me. You know, that's what happens when you give people a chance. They're not the way you thought they would be."

"Before we start bonding a little too much, I suggest you get this car going," she said, running a hand through her hair. "The last thing I need is for us to become best friends."

"It's too late to stop the bonding, Spencer. It's already happened," he joked. "You fed Christian, right?"

"Of course. His standard milk and baby food meal," she said, sighing. "Taking care of a baby is much harder than I thought it would be. He's always crying and needing things. Ugh."

Toby laughed and started driving towards their school. Once they arrived, he found a parking spot, and stopped the car.

"Do you want to take him, or should I?" Toby asked, opening the car door for her.

"Thanks, and I'll take him for today, and you can take him tomorrow during school. We'll have a trade-off system for during-school hours," she explained, and then picked Christian up to cradle him. "I wuv you, my wittle baby."

"Oh, why thank you. That's very sweet of you to say!" Toby joked.

"Once again, very funny," she sarcastically said, and nudged him with her shoulder. "I should probably find Andrew. I seriously need to talk to him. I don't want him to be mad at me for what happened."

"I highly doubt that you're a bad girlfriend to him," Toby said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Are you sure he's not just being overdramatic?"

"No, of course not!" Spencer denied, shaking her head. "He's pretty much right. I should show him how much I appreciate him instead of blowing him off all the time. But thank you for your support. That's just not the guy he is, though."

"Yeah, alright, I guess I don't know him well enough to make judgments," Toby said, half-smiling. "Well, I'll see you later, Spencer. You better take good care of Christian. Don't drop him!"

Spencer chuckled as she started walking around, searching for Andrew. Finally, she spotted him. He was with Aria. They were both laughing hard and cradling their damn baby doll. Spencer didn't understand why she couldn't talk to him the way Aria could. She sighed, making her way up to him, tapping his shoulder.

"Hi..." she mumbled.

"Spencer, hi," he greeted, his eyes widening. "Aria, could you give us some privacy for a moment? Take the baby. We don't need any random outbursts of crying."

Aria giggled and patted his shoulder before saying, "Of course." She carefully took the baby doll from Andrew's hands, and kept walking off.

"I know you're pissed off about what happened on Saturday, but I—" she began.

He cut her off by kissing her lips passionately. He cupped her cheeks as they stood there with their lips locked. She laughed into the kiss, throwing her arms around him, deepening it.

"I love you, Spencer," he told her. "I was being a crazy bitch on the weekend. Sure, you might cancel a lot of dates on me, but you're not a bad girlfriend. That wasn't fair of me to say."

"I'm glad you're saying that, because I didn't want to have to get into some big fight with you," she said, laughing with relief. "You're always going to be the one I want to be with. Never forget that, okay? Even if I cancel dates on us, that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"I know, I know. I felt insecure about us, I don't know why," he admitted, running a hand through his hair.

"You should never feel insecure about our relationship, Andrew!" Spencer cried, grabbing both of his hands and squeezing them. "Our relationship is amazing. I love it, and you're going to have to remember that. Let me make up for all the negligence. Let's go out for dinner tonight. I know it's a school night, but I would do anything to spend time with you. I'll give Toby the baby, and you can give Aria yours. Sound like a plan?"

"Yes," he agreed, pecking her forehead. "It sounds like the perfect plan to me. I'm so happy we're fixing everything."

She smiled before asking, "So, how much did you miss me this weekend, loser?"

He furrowed his eyebrows before confessing, "Well, to be honest, you weren't on my mind that much. I asked Aria to distract me from the fight we had, and it worked. We had a really great time. She's super funny, you know that?"

"That feels like a wrench on my heart," she mumbled, scratching her head. "Of course I know what Aria is like. She's one of my best friends, dummy."

"Don't murder me for not thinking about you that much. She's amazing at distracting me," Andrew explained. "Don't take it personally, babe. You're everything to me." He kissed Spencer's cheek. "I should probably get to class."

"Are you sure Aria isn't everything to you?"

"Come on, Spence! It was nothing. She's just a friend, you know that. First of all, Aria would never do that to you, since she's your best friend. Second of all, _I_ would never to that to you because I love you, and you should trust me," he told her, folding his arms. "Do you trust me, babe?"

"That was a very good answer," Spencer proudly said, and then quickly hugged him. "Yes, I trust you. And I trust her, too. Have fun in class. I'll see you later. Love you."

"You, too," he said, waving as he walked off with a smile on his face.

/

"Hello, ladies. Missed me while I was gone?"

"Ali!" Emily Fields exclaimed, immediately jumping up to hug her blonde friend. "I'm so happy you're back."

"Suspension over?" Hanna questioned, snickering.

"Laugh all you want, Han, but it was pretty amazing. Being away from school was great, even though my dad gave me hell for getting suspended," Alison said, sighing as she sat down. "I did miss you guys, though. I know you missed me, too."

Emily laughed quietly before saying, "You're back just in time for winter formal. The school is letting you go to the dances for winter quarter, right?"

"Mhm, yeah," she answered, nodding her head. "I'm actually excited for this school dance, too. I have a date. He's an older man."

"You have a date?" Emily asked, biting her lip.

"He doesn't go to this school. He's a cop," Alison explained with a wink. "I can't wait for you all to meet him. His name is Lorenzo, and he is quite the charmer. You'll love him. Anyways, who are you guys planning on taking?"

"I thought that maybe I could ask Sean to go with me to the dance," Hanna confessed, scratching her head. "I don't know if it's a good idea, since we broke up like a month ago, but I miss him, and Mona says that she heard he misses me, too. Maybe asking him to be my date will repair our relationship. What if we can get back together?"

"Go for it, honey," Alison encouraged. "You and Sean made a nice couple, I won't stop that from happening. You never know, maybe he does want you back. You won't know for sure unless you ask him to be your date. And you, Aria? Who do you want to take?"

"Oh... I wasn't planning on asking anyone or going with anyone," Aria told her, scratching her neck nervously.

"I think you like someone," Alison giggled. "Tell us! Who is your mystery man?"

"You're crushing on somebody?" Hanna asked, her eyes widening. "Aria Rose Montgomery, fess up right now! Who do you like? Maybe you can ask him to be your date to winter formal!"

"No way!" Aria denied. "I could never ask him to be my date—"

"So there _is_ someone," Spencer concluded, nudging her friend. "Come on, you're cute, funny, smart, and pretty much perfect. Whoever this guy is would be lucky to go out with you, and you should know it. I doubt it's far-fetched. Any guy would say yes to you. Unless he has a girlfriend or something."

"Spencer, can we not do this right now?" she pleaded. "He's just not somebody I want to think about, and it's too much for me. I'm not going with anybody to formal, and that's that."

"Touchy," Alison commented, shrugging her shoulders. "What about you, Em? I'm sure a girl as gorgeous as you could score a date to the dance in seconds."

She shook her head bashfully, tucking a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear, biting her lip before saying, "No, I don't think anyone is going to ask me. I'd rather not go with a date, anyways."

"Stop underestimating yourself!" Alison cried, smacking her shoulder. "If I were a boy, I know I'd die to ask you."

Emily stayed silent, locking eyes with Alison for a moment. Truthfully, she didn't want to have a date to the dance. Well, she wanted a date— just not the kind of date that Alison was thinking about. There was this girl on her mind, and she didn't know what it meant. All she knew was that she had been thinking about a few girls in ways that she wasn't supposed to be thinking about them. How could she tell Alison, or any of her friends for that matter, that she had been thinking about girls?

"Okay, I'll just break the tension then," Alison laughed. "Spencer, I'll assume that you're going with your little hunk of a boyfriend, right? Unless you guys broke up in the time that I was away..."

"No, we didn't break up," she said, shaking her head with a smile. "In fact, we're better than ever."

"You guys worked everything out?" Aria asked curiously, glancing over at the brunette. "He was really upset when I came over to work on our project."

"Yeah, I know, and we talked about everything this morning," she explained, still smiling. "We really are better than ever. Tonight, we're going out for dinner."

"Better than ever, huh? Did he swipe that v-card already?" Alison joked.

"Ali!" Spencer cried, smacking her arm. "No way. I'm not about to give him that card any time."

"Doesn't making out get tiring?" she asked.

"I don't know," Spencer said, shrugging. "I still am fine with just kissing him. I'm not _tempted_ for more. I don't know about him, though."

"He's out of the question. He's a dude, Spence. Every time you kiss, I bet the only thing he's thinking about is boning you," Hanna laughed, stuffing a French fry into her mouth. "You think he doesn't want to have sex with you? He's waiting for you to cave so he can finally get some."

"That is not true!" Spencer argued. "You guys don't know Andrew the way I do. He's a sophisticated, mature, good guy. He's not interested in sleeping with me. He would have told me if he wanted to."

"Whatever you say, honey," Alison scoffed.

/

"Damn, I've been dying to have sex with Spencer already!" Andrew cried, running a hand through his hair. "She keeps stopping us while we're making out, and I can't take it. We've been together for months, so I think we're serious enough to finally do it. To be honest, I would have boned her on the first day we started dating, if she would have let me."

"You gotta keep pushing, but you can't make it obvious that you want to sleep with her. Girls don't like pressure," Noel Kahn told him. "Be sexy, so she all her ideas of waiting go down the drain. If you make her want you, then she'll cave."

/

The sound of laughter filled the Campbell house as Spencer and Andrew made their way inside. The date went really well. The two of them laughed, talked, ate, and just had a very great time together. She agreed to come over for about an hour or so before heading home, to Andrew's delight.

"I'm glad you agreed to come over after dinner," he said, taking his jacket off, and tossing it on the couch. "Do you want to go upstairs?"

"Sure," she agreed, taking his hand as they walked up the stairs together. "I don't think I should stay too long, though. I barely got any homework done, and I've actually got a French quiz tomorrow, so I should probably be studying now. My parents won't be happy if I come back with anything lower than an A."

"Hey, I know you'll ace it," Andrew told her, leaning in to chastely kiss her lips. "You're Spencer Hastings, and you're the smartest girl I know."

She sighed, seating herself down on his bed before saying, "My parents don't feel the same way. They barely notice me. I mean, I hate always having to prove myself to them! Constantly living in Melissa's shadow is the worst feeling. I feel like I do accomplish a lot academically, but they don't care enough. No matter what I do, it's never going to be as great as Melissa's accomplishments. She's the good child to them. I'm not."

"Baby, don't say that," Andrew said, stroking her back.

"Well, it's true!" Spencer cried. "I wouldn't be telling you if I really didn't believe in it. But I'm so happy you're with me. I've missed the times when you would just talk to me. I needed a pair of ears tonight."

"Oh, we don't have to do any talking at all," he told her, leaning in to kiss her in a much less chaste manner this time. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, and ran his hands along her back, rubbing the area where he could feel her bra poking out of her blouse.

She kissed back, of course, and climbed onto Andrew's lap.

"You're so sexy, babe," he whispered into her ear, and got her off of his lap.

Once she was off of his lap, he took a step back, yanking his shirt over his head, and tossing it to the floor. Her eyes went slightly wide, but he gave her a sexy smirk, and then pulled her back onto his lap. Their mouths met again, and the tongue continued. She was growing a bit nervous at the way he was kissing her. It was much more intense than it usually was. Her heart began racing, and she wasn't so sure about what was happening anymore. His hands found their way to the buttons of her blouse, and that's when she really began getting extremely nervous. She thought there was maybe a chance he was just trying to be a little more sexy for her by taking his shirt off, but once he started taking hers off, too, she knew exactly where this was going: sex.

"Andrew," she began, pulling back from him, "Andrew, no!"

"What's wrong?" he asked. "I thought—"

"I told you I'm not ready for that," she said, shaking her head. "Put your shirt back on. It's getting late; I think you should take me home."

"Take you home?" he asked, shocked. "Spencer, you just got here!"

Feeling violated, she covered her chest area, shook her head, and told him, "Well, I thought you wanted me to come over so we could have as good of a time as we were having during dinner, but you made this about having sex. I thought you wanted to talk to me, and listen to me. Clearly that's not what you have in mind, so I'd like to go home. We spent enough time together during dinner."

"No, no! This isn't all about sex to me, I swear," he told her, pulling his shirt over his head, and then grabbing both of his hands. "I love _you_ , Spencer. Everything about you. I thought we were both ready to take the next step in our relationship, but that's totally okay if you're not. It was my mistake. I won't make it again until you let me know if you're ready. I want to talk to you. I want to listen to you. That's what I want."

"I'm happy to hear that, but I still would like to go home," she said, sighing. "I'm sorry, Andrew."

"Alright, if that's what you want, then I'm okay with that, too," he told her, getting up. He grabbed his car keys from the table, and gave her a hand up. "Come on, let's go. I'll drive you."

"You know what? I know I asked you to drive me home at first, but I changed my mind," she said.

"Really?" he asked with a grin. "You'll stay with me for a little more time, then?"

"Hell no," she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't want _you_ to take me home. I meant that I'll walk home myself. It's not that far."

"No!" he cried. "Spencer, don't do that. It's dark outside. Let me drive you."

"Oh, I know you're a tough muscle man, and you can protect me from all the baddies outside, but no thanks," she sarcastically said, and started walking. "I'm not comfortable about what happened tonight, and I'm definitely not okay with it."

"Why not?" he demanded. "I stopped when you asked me to! It's not like I tried to rape you! I made a mistake in how far I thought you wanted to go, and I'm sorry about that, but I don't understand why you're being like this."

"I guess I thought you were different," she said, sighing. "My friends told me that all guys want sex, and I defended you. I told them that my Andrew Campbell would never be like that. But you're exactly like that."

"That is not fair!" he practically yelled. "So what if I want to have sex with you? You're my girlfriend! It shouldn't be such an insane thing to want, should it? You're shaming me for wanting to have sex with you?"

"I'm not mad," she said, shaking her head. "I feel violated! I told you last week that I'm not ready to sleep with you yet, and you try to do it with me anyways? That's what I'm disappointed about. It's not a big deal, I'll get over it. Bye, Andrew."

She left his bedroom without another word. He sighed as he heard the door shut, knowing that she had left his house. He pulled out his cell phone, and called somebody else.

"Hey... I know it's pretty late, but I'm having a rough night, and it would mean a lot to me if you could come over. You being around would cheer me up. You always do."

 **NOTE: Thanks for the feedback, guys. And to the guest reviewer that told me Spencer is OOC, if you could elaborate, that would be great :) I'm not too great at keeping their personalities similar to the show :/ What aspects could I improve on? I would love to work on getting her into character. Thank you so much! If anyone has any ideas, feel free to inform me. Thanks again.**


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